? Cream - Disraeli Gears ? Rare 1969 Atco Records Early Stereo Press Vinyl LP ????

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Jump to navigationJump to search Disraeli Gears Studio album by  Cream Released 2 November 1967 Recorded May 1967 Studio Atlantic, New York City Genre Psychedelic rock Length 33:37 Label Reaction Producer Felix Pappalardi Cream chronology Fresh Cream
(1966) Disraeli Gears
(1967) Wheels of Fire
(1968) Singles from Disraeli Gears

1. "Strange Brew" / "Tales of Brave Ulysses"
   Released: June 1967
2. "Sunshine of Your Love" / "SWLABR"
   Released: January 1968

Disraeli Gears is the second studio album by the British rock band Cream. It was released in November 1967 and went on to reach No. 5 on the UK Albums Chart. It was also the group's American breakthrough, becoming a massive seller in 1968, and reaching No. 4 on the American charts. The album was No. 1 for two weeks on the Australian album chart and was listed as the No. 1 album of 1968 by Cash Box in the year-end album chart in the United States. The album features the two singles "Strange Brew" and "Sunshine of Your Love".

The original 11-track album was remastered in 1998, and then subsequently released as a two-disc Deluxe Edition in 2004.

Background

Title

Drummer Ginger Baker recalled how the album's title was based on a malapropism which alluded to 19th-century British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli:

You know how the title came about – Disraeli Gears – yeah? We had this Austin Westminster, and Mick Turner was one of the roadies who'd been with me a long time, and he was driving along and Eric [Clapton] was talking about getting a racing bicycle. Mick, driving, went 'Oh yeah – Disraeli gears!' meaning derailleur gears...We all just fell over...We said that's got to be the album title.

Original album

The album was recorded at Atlantic Studios in New York during May 1967, following the band's nine shows as part of Murray the K's "Music in the 5th Dimension" concert series. Cream's American label, ATCO, was a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlantic Records.

The sessions were produced by future Mountain bassist Felix Pappalardi – who co-wrote the tracks "Strange Brew" and "World of Pain" with wife Gail Collins – and were engineered by Tom Dowd – who would later work with Clapton on projects such as Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs and 461 Ocean Boulevard. The owner of Atlantic Records, Ahmet Ertegun, was also present during the sessions.

According to Dowd the recording sessions took only three and a half days, a feat considering the length of the album. The band's visas expired on the very last day of recording.

The original 11-track album was remastered by Joseph M. Palmaccio at PolyGram Studios[1] for a 1998 release, including bonus photographs accompanying the original album artwork.

Deluxe Edition

The "Disraeli Gears Deluxe Edition" includes the complete album in both mono and stereo, demos, alternative takes and tracks taken from the band's live sessions on BBC radio. Included is an outtake of "Blue Condition" with Eric Clapton on lead vocals and demos of the songs "Weird of Hermiston" and "The Clearout" which were not released until Jack Bruce's first solo album "Songs for a Tailor".

Artwork

The cover art was created by Australian artist Martin Sharp who lived in the same building as Clapton, The Pheasantry in Chelsea. Sharp would go on to create the artwork to Cream's next album Wheels of Fire and co-wrote the songs "Tales of Brave Ulysses" and The Savage Seven movie theme "Anyone for Tennis" with Clapton. The photography was by Bob Whitaker, known for works by The Beatles including the controversial Yesterday and Today "butcher" cover.

The front cover consists of a psychedelic collage with the title centred and band name below, surrounded by a floral arrangement. Martin Sharp was attempting to capture the sound of the music in the cover, which he describes as a "warm fluorescent sound":

I got hold of a publicity shot and cut it up, along with cutouts from various books, laid the pieces out and stuck them together as a collage on a 12-inch square. I did some drawing outlines, and then painted all over it with fluorescent inks and paints of the time. I really wanted to capture that warm, electric sound of their music in the colours and expression of the cover. On my way to England, I'd gone [to Cambodia]. And in one of the towns I visited, there were these amazing sculptures with faces on each side, and huge trees growing out on top… Over the years, these great trees had taken root and grown. I suppose I thought that was a bit like the band: where you could see three faces, and the music coming out of their heads.

The cover art was also used for the compilation Those Were the Days.

Musical style

"Disraeli Gears" features the group veering away, quite heavily, from their blues roots and indulging in more psychedelic sounds. The most blues-like tunes on the album are the remake of "Outside Woman Blues", the Bruce/Brown composition "Take it Back" which had been inspired by the contemporary media images of American students burning their draft cards which featured harmonica work by Jack Bruce, and the opening track "Strange Brew" which was based on a 12-bar blues song called "Lawdy Mama" and featured an Albert King guitar solo, copied note for note.

Reception

Writing for the BBC, Chris Jones described the album as "a perfect encapsulation of the point where the blues got psychedelic and in turn got heavy". Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic describes the album as "a quintessential heavy rock album of the '60s". Dave Swanson of Ultimate Classic Rock believes the album to be "their masterpiece".

In 1999, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

In 2003 the album was ranked No. 114 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. VH1 also named it their 87th greatest album of all time in 2001. In 2008, the album won a Classic Rock Roll of Honours Award for Classic Album.

Track listing

Original album

• Eric Clapton
• Felix Pappalardi
• Gail Collins

• Jack Bruce
• Clapton
• Pete Brown

• Pappalardi
• Collins

• Bruce
• Brown

• Clapton
• Martin Sharp

• Bruce
• Brown

• Bruce
• Brown